Local Students

The CPRC offers the inter-campus collaboration with the UPR at Río Piedras through their undergraduate course BIOL 4990: Introduction to Research. This course offers undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct research in Biology under the mentorship of faculty and graduate students. 

We currently offer research opportunities in the areas below; however, undergraduate, as well as graduate, students are encouraged to discuss new ideas and projects with our staff.

Behavior and stress management : Determining the effects of different strategies such as the use of a play cage versus a home cage on captive rhesus macaque behavior. Students will participate in behavioral data collection and statistical analysis.  

Cayo Santiago Field Station: Internship opportunities present at the CSFS may be related to Population Management, Ecology and Behavior, Population Ecology, Plant ecology, Feeding Ecology. 

Laboratory of Primate Morphology:  Students, volunteers, and interns are encouraged to apply to help in the curation of the Laboratory of Primate Morphology's collection. Specifically, the student will be supplied with a mature rhesus skeleton, an India ink pen, and a manual of rhesus bone identification. He or she will be shown how to write the specimen's catalog number on each bone and how to string the vertebrae. The final steps are sorting the bones into broad classifications and filling out the inventory sheet. As the student gets more proficient, he or she will be supplied with an aged skeleton.  The last and most difficult phase is curating the immature skeletons.  These are complex due to the small size and unfused epiphyses.  At the end, it is hoped that the student will have a grasp of growth, development and ordinary variation of bone biology.

Escuela Agricola Bucarabones: We offer a course on Animal Health through a special collaboration with a Regional public school, Escuela Agricola Bucarabones, at Toa Alta, PR. The school offers a diversity of occupational courses related to agricultural activities and the CPRC welcomes students interested in animal health and management. Enrolled students will participate of a 200-hour training involving hands-on experiences under the environmental enrichment, veterinary care, and animal health programs. Such collaboration is meant to enhance and improve the academic experiences of local students in order to create a favorable educative environment.